Outgoing Green group leader Craig Simmons said it was unsure who was going to take the reins of his party in Oxford after it lost two seats in the local election.

Mr Simmons said the loss of just two seats was better than he expected as the Greens had not been invited to take part in any of the national leaders' debates – leaving his party shorn of media exposure during the General Election.

Mr Simmons said people had voted on national, not local, issues during the council election.

However, he was heartened that the Greens successfully defended two seats, allowing them to maintain a voice on the council.

He said: “I expected to lose all of the seats so I’m happy.”

He added: “It’s a great shame the election was fought so much on national issues because we have got a lot of important issues to tackle locally – such as the closure of Temple Cowley pool, air pollution, and the fact the local economy is so reliant on so few big businesses and 40 per cent of jobs being in the public sector.”